Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1887-01-24
4 urjrnltnral department,
PUTTING UP ICE.

Ice is almost indispensable to the
dairvman for bringing his milk and
cream to and keeping them at the
proper temperature. Aside from its
use IN the dairy. ice is a luxury
which well repays all the cost of put
ting il up. and the wonder Is that 80
few farmers Law in liberal stock. Ice
can BE- kept in the simplest kind OF 4
structure. The essential conditions
are that there shall be no air spaces
at the bottom. that il shall he sur
rounded. (packed in,) by good non
conducting material in sufficient
quantity. that il shall have tight
roof 10 exclude rain. and the ventila-
ton j. provided. A cheep board
building with the cracks Oattened an
swers about as well as a costly struc-
ture with double walls filled in. The
keeping OF the ice does not depend
so much upon the walls of the build
mo as upon the kind and amount of
material with which it Is packed.
Saw dust or dry tan bark furnish the
best packing materials. But these III
many localities are difficult to obtain.
Next to these dry cut straw or chatf
is probably the best. and almost any
farm can furnish the straw. Cut
straw is better than whole, because
it packs closer and makes q better
non conductor, though whole straw Is
often successfully used. In the latter
case the space for filling between the
pile Of ice and the walls of the build
ing needs to be wider than If cut
straw were used. In case cut straw
is used we would leave a space OF is
inches for filling, but with whole
straw of two feet. The siils of the
buildings should rest oD the ground,
or on wall built for them. allowing
no air to enter underneath. We
would lay tile foot below the sur
face inside, with outlet some distance
away, TO keep the bottom dry, but
tile should not open into the building
to admit air. i foundation of al least
q foot deep of packing material, saw
dust tan or straw, should be laid /
over the bottom, on which to build |
the pile OF ice, and the blocks should /
be cut as nearly as possible of uni |
form size so as to pack closely, and |
it is well 10 90 over each lsyeT as il /
is put in and all cracks with pounded !
ice so as to make the pile as solid a.
possible. When the pile is finished, OF
as it progresses. the filling between it
and the side Of the building should
be made and tamped down as solidly
as possible, and covering of at
least two feet in depth be made over
all. Ventilation should be provided
for by openings in the gables or a
shaft going up through the roof 10
permit the escape OF the moist ar
which gathers above the ice. The
door should be for convenience made
in two sections, an upper and low
er. with boards laid across on the in
side of the fraim holding the packing
,,,ata,i.I -, ,,I.co
The proper size depends upon the
amount Of ice that will be required.
Ice will measure about forty cubic
feet 10 ton, and ten tons would
be an ample supply for family
use. This would be equivalent
to q pie feet long, feet wide
and 6Iz feet high. If we allow two
feet on all sides for packing space,
the buildings to hold this amount in
the form above gwen would need to
be 12Xl2 feet with nine foot posts.
A door in the gable would be needed
for putting i'll the top layer and tax
ing out ice early in the season. As
cheap and good a way for cheap
building would be TO set posts IN the
ground three on q side Except the
end where the doors are) with 2x4,
for plate and middle and bottom
girth, and board up and down and
hatten, banking up at the bottom to
exclude air. The roof should project
considerably on all sides so as to
shade the sides, and If it could be
built under the shade of trees it would
be all the better. When expense is
no object, and q permanent structure
is desired, brick OF stone foundation
should be put in on which to lay the
sill, which should he bedded in morter
and double walls can be made by us
ing 2x8 OF 2x12 for studding and fill
ing the space between the outside
and inside boarding. Ice should be
cut and put up only in freezing
weather If cut and handled when
the temperature is above freezing,
the blocks splinter and crack, and It's
keeping qualities ale considerably in
jured.
GLEANINGS.
Some trees are valuable, not only